Disclaimer- I own nothing :)
"Detective" A young nurses voice pulls me from my thoughts, her tone is rushed and somewhat impatient. "We need an answer now, we're losing time"
Another moment passes. I feel speechless, but somehow find my ability to talk. "Um, yes. Yes, do whatever you have to" I say nodding, blinking back the tears as they threaten to fall. As I look through the window to where they are beginning to work on the premature baby girl, my vision becomes clouded. They soon begin rolling her out to another room upstairs, I'm unpermitted to go with them. Before I know it, I'm pacing back and forth, waiting on any word of that innocent childs condition.
"Liv" Elliot Stabler. My partner, my best friend. I briefly look over my shoulder at him, knowing full well that if I turn to him completely, I'll fall to pieces. "Whats going on? Captin called me and told me about what Gladis did" he explains as he gets closer, my back still turned to him. Biting my bottom lip, I continue with my feeble attempts to keep the tears at bay.
Its no use. He gently puts a hand on my shoulder and turns me to face him as the first silent tear rolls down my cheek. His once confused expression softens as he takes in my broken one. "Olivia" he breaths softly, gently pulling me into his arms. This isn't normal for us, we usually have a physical boundary. Tonight's different though, a part of my world seems to be falling apart. I continue to sob silently into him while he tries everything he can think of to soothe me, whispering soft reassurances into my ear.
What feels like an eternity passes before I'm able to collect myself and form a coherent sentence. My sobs have stopped, but I'm still shaking. Seeing this, Elliot removes his jacket and places it over my shoulders before leading me over to a small row of chairs against the wall. Soon enough, I'm telling him everything. More tears spill from my eyes as I go on to explain my stress over the baby's health, but I don't bother to wipe them away.
Another eternity passes, and Elliot is now telling me about the stresses he went through with the birth of all his children, especially Eli. Miraculously, he is able to get me to smile again, telling me stories about his each of them. The pride in his voice whenever he speaks of them still leaves me breathless.
As we sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, Elliot gently massaging the back of my neck to comfort me, I cant help but think of the possibilities that could come from this surgery. Both good and bad. As I stare down at my hands in thought, I soon begin to speak up. "El, what if she doesn't make it?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Hey, Liv you cant think like that. The 'What ifs will drive you crazy. Gladys was right to leave the baby to you, theres nobody in the world who deserves a kid more than you do. Just...try not to think about it." He soothes me. A part of me hates him for always being here for me, for never letting me down then refusing to let me return the favor. The other part of me feels safe in his reassurances, even knowing that theres a more-than-likely chance he could be wrong. "And I'm not leaving your side, no matter what the outcome may be. Your not in this alone, I promise."
His thoughtful words bring tears to my eyes and I'm rendered speechless yet again. "Thanks El" is all I manage to choke out in fear of my voice cracking. Before I am able to say anything else, or even attempt, we are interupted by a nurse as she clears her throat. I'm on my feet in an instant. My heart shatters into a million pieces as the look on the young womans face tells me all I need to know. Its all over.
"Detective, I'm so sorry" She says softly, obviously pained to be the one that has to break the news. "We did everything we possibly could, but she was too small and her body couldn't handle the anesthetics. She didn't make it. I'm so sorry" the young nurse repeats.
I'm suddenly oblivious to everything else around me. The only thing registering to me anymore is the fact that the large part of my heart that was in that little girls hands is now gone, broken. Nodding softly, I say nothing and simply turn around as tears begin to hit my cheeks like bullets, streaming down my face before I'm aware of anything else. My partners arms are around me once again, and his soft, warm lips are pressed to my forehead as he attempts to calm me down.
"Its gonna be alright, Olivia" He whispers reassuringly, his lips barely moving as he speaks. "Its okay, I'm not going anywhere" his promise barely registers to me, and the next thing I'm aware of is sitting in his car as we sit outside my apartment building. "I'm staying with you tonight" he announces softly. By now, I'm calmed down and am finally able to once again form rational sentences.
"El, you really don't have to. I'll be fine." Even I don't believe the words as they come out of my mouth.
"Bull."
"What about Kathy?" I ask after a moment.
"She'll be fine without me. Things with her are...complicated anyway. Its no big deal, I'll just sleep on your couch, it wouldn't be the first time"
Rolling my eyes lightly, I finally give in and shrug. "Fine, because apparently I need a babysitter. Lets go" I mumble, getting out of the car. Chuckling at my quickness to give in, he throws his arm over my shoulder as I walk and pulls me closer to his side. Hes my best friend, my partner, and the only thing that will be able to get me through tonight with most of my sanity still in tact.
AN- So that's the second one-shot for this collection. There will also be another version of this up later, with a few alterations for those of you who aren't happy with the outcome :) Tell me what you think? Kind of sucks, I know. Reviews are like the E/O relationship..Hot and get me excited x) Kidding! But seriously, drop a review and let me know what other kind of one-shots you guys want to read about. It can be any pairing, it can be a song-fic, whatever you want. The sky is the limit. Just let me know, give me about a day or two to write it, and it'll be posted as soon as possible :)